


If You Kiss a Thief Count Your Teeth

by Pippin



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Character Death, Slight Violence, TPP Minibang 2019, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-20 13:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17622956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pippin/pseuds/Pippin
Summary: But Mama, you don't understandWhat I want is a ganef man





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title and all quotes are from Ganef by Vagabond Orchestra, aka my very favorite Jupeter song.

**Mama, I found him the clouds have rolled away**

**He stole an apple from the tree**

**He stole my heart away**

Juno collapsed into bed, his hand held dramatically over his heart.  Usually, that sort of drama was Benten’s thing, but Juno could still steal it, shoot him.

Benten didn’t look so sure, giving Juno a judgmental look from where he sat in their ratty old armchair.  Juno casually flipped him off in reply, other hand still resting on his chest.

“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Benten asked, eyebrow arched.  For all their similarities, Juno couldn’t do that, and he hated that Benten could.

Juno glanced at the door before dropping his voice.  “I met someone. He’s gorgeous and perfect and interested in me just as much as I’m interested in him.”

Benten’s eyes went huge.  “Oh  _ shit _ .”

If life was normal, Benten’s reaction would have been different.  The twins were close, close enough to celebrate each other’s successes and mourn each other’s failures, but this wasn’t about their relationship.  Rather, it was one of the rules their mother enforced.  _ No outsiders _ .  No one was allowed in from the outside, especially not potential partners.  Sarah’s rules were strict and inflexible and punishment for breaking them was severe.

Rather than answering Benten, Juno yawned and got up, stripping out of his work clothes and into his ratty pajamas.  Once he got back into bed he rolled onto his side, facing the wall and wrapping his arms around himself.

Benten, already in pajamas, crossed over to the bed, curling up against his twin, draping his legs over Juno’s and cuddling along his back, the standard secret-sharing position between the two of them.

“Tell me about him.”

“His name is Rex Glass,” Juno began, tipping his head back to rest against Benten’s.  “He came into the store the first time about two weeks ago for a suit. I was responsible for doing his measurements.”

Juno could feel Benten laughing against his back and kicked back at him half-heartedly.

“Did you get  _ all _ his measurements?” Benten asked slyly.

“It doesn’t work like that.  It’s  _ really _ not sexy.”

“Whatever you say, Super Steel.”  Benten didn’t sound convinced, but he let it go.  “Tell me more about him.”

Juno groaned.  “He’s got money.  I mean, he’s buying from us, of course he does.”  The tailor Juno worked for was one of the best in the solar system, catering to the richest people who came from planets around to get immaculately tailored clothing.

“I know you said he’s gorgeous, but—is he hot?”

“Benten!”

“Well?”

Juno sighed.  “Yeah, he’s hot.”  More than hot. Juno went in for people who looked like they could kill him, something that was beyond dangerous, though Juno didn’t really care.  Rex fit that profile, lean and tall, with a deadly glint in his eyes and an edge to his smile that did things to Juno’s stomach. He carried himself as if he knew he could handle anything life threw at him, an air of deadly assurance that drew Juno to him like a moth to a flame.

Benten laughed, delighted, and Juno relaxed back against him, closing his eyes.

***

One of Juno’s specialties was fine and delicate work, the sort of thing that put the clothes coming from Morrow’s Tailor a step above the rest.  He had spent the morning finishing hand sewing a hem for a wedding dress that he had been working on for days, and now he was moving onto the finishing touches for Rex’s suit.

The holes in the diamonds were tiny and barely visible, and Juno found himself bent nearly in two, nose almost touching the fabric he was working with.  The cuffs were lined with starburst patterns and the lapels were crisscrossed with the diamonds. It should have been horribly ostentatious but somehow it worked out, although Juno would have to see it on before he could make a definite conclusion.  He hoped he would get to see it on. Rex was already stunning and Juno wanted to see him in a beautifully tailored suit more than he was willing to admit.

The bell over the door rung and Juno looked up.  It was as if his thoughts had summoned the man himself as Rex Glass walked into the shop.

“Juno!” he said delightedly, sharp teeth flashing as he smiled at seeing the lady bent over his work.

Juno set aside the silky black fabric, making sure to securely close the lid of the container the diamonds were stored in.  He really couldn’t afford to lose any.

Rex’s eyes tracked the gleam of the fabric.  “Is that my suit?” he asked.

Juno rolled his eyes.  Rex had supplied the diamonds himself; he knew full well that anything they were being sewn onto was his.  “What are you doing here?” he asked instead of answering.

“I’m here for you, Juno.  Here to take you to lunch, if you want.  My treat.”

“I brought my lunch,” Juno protested weakly.

“If you don’t want to, I won’t make you.”  Rex turned away.

“Wait.”  Rex looked over his shoulder, waiting to see what Juno would say.  “I’ll come to lunch with you.”

***

Rex let Juno choose where to go, citing that Juno was far more familiar with the area than he himself was.  Juno’s favorite hole in the wall was only a five-minute walk from the shop, a little place ran by a family that had left the Outer Rim during the war.

When they walked in Rex’s face changed and he breathed in deeply, relaxing as he did.

Juno raised his eyebrows at Rex as he sat in his normal booth.  “You good?”

“I’m from out by the Outer Rim,” Rex explained.  “The smell of the food here is reminiscent of home.”

Juno nodded, then his attention shifted as one of the staff stopped by their table.  “It’s nice to see you, Juno. The usual?”

“Of course.”

“And for your friend?”

Rex looked up from the menu printed on his place setting.  “Brahmese spiced noodles, please. Extra hot.”

The waiter looked dubious but said nothing.  Juno wasn’t so good at holding his tongue.

“Extra hot?”

“Some of us can handle spice, Juno, dear.”

It turned out that Rex could, in fact, handle spice, which was bizarre to Juno, who had no spice tolerance to speak of.

“It tastes like home,” Rex admitted, eyes closed and with a look of pleasure on his face.  “I haven’t been home recently, so it’s…nice.”

Juno couldn’t imagine what that was like, missing a home like that, but he wasn’t about to say anything to burst Rex’s remembrance bubble.

Rex seemed to do that himself, however, shaking his head violently and returning to his food.

***

Rex laced his fingers through Juno’s as they walked back to the shop, warm hand pressed against Juno’s own.  “Thank you for humoring me, darling. I had a good time.”

Juno laughed quietly.  “I did, too.”

**His wit he took from Wilde**

**His looks from Dorian Gray**

**His suit isn’t Brooks Brothers but it was just yesterday**

When Juno opened the door he immediately tried to slam it again, but Rex grabbed it before the latch caught.

“Juno!” he protested, peering through the narrow crack between the door and the frame.

Juno took a quick glance down the hall behind him, then slipped outside. He pulled the door shut behind him, though he kept his hand on the knob, ready to bolt at the slightest sign of trouble.

“You can’t be here,” he hissed, glaring at Rex.  “You have to go. Now.” Something in the back of his mind wondered how the hell Rex knew where he lived, but the concern about Sarah finding out overrode that thought.  “ _ Go _ .”

“I thought you liked me, Juno.”  Rex looked offended, and Juno frowned. 

“I do.  That’s why you can’t be here.”

Of course Rex wouldn’t know about Sarah, wouldn’t know about the rules that ran Juno’s life and his interactions with others.  He wouldn’t know the danger he posed to Juno just by being on the front stoop.

The door opened behind Juno and his breath caught for a single heart-stopping moment of terror.  He was found out. But no, it was just Benten.

Rex looked shocked, sharp eyes flitting back and between the twins.  They were identical but also different—Benten was far more elegant than Juno, put together where Juno was disheveled.  His curls were soft and sleek, streaked through with royal purple. He stood an inch taller than Juno, courtesy of his dancer’s posture versus Juno’s perpetual slouch.  His nose was straight, lacking the kink of Juno’s repeatedly broken nose and the scar across its bridge. The differences were small, really, something people would only be able to use for telling them apart when the twins stood side by side.

“Juno?” Rex asked, frowning as he looked between them.  Benten’s stance was relaxed and friendly, his typical appearance when meeting strangers.  Juno, in contrast, was tense. It might not have been Sarah catching him, but that didn’t mean that everything was okay.

Juno sighed.  “This is Benzaiten.  My twin brother.”

It wasn’t that Juno didn’t want Rex to meet Benten, it was just that…everyone liked Benten better.  He was the better twin, plain and simple. Not broken, not a complete disaster of a human being, not everything that was wrong with Juno.  People would abandon Juno for Benten without a second thought, and Juno had been trying to avoid that happening with Rex.

“It’s nice to meet you, Benzaiten,” Rex said pleasantly, although there was something off in his voice.  Juno couldn’t quite place it, but it wasn’t how people usually sounded when talking to Benten, when they were replacing Juno with Benten in their minds.  But that was probably just Rex, Juno reasoned. The replacement was still happening. It always happened.

“You too,” Benten replied before turning to Juno.  “I’ll keep an eye on Mom for you. Enjoy!”

He winked at Juno, and before disappearing back into the house, turned back to Rex.  “Don’t hurt him.”

Juno turned back to Rex, bracing himself for what he knew was coming: for Rex to lose all interest in him and turn to pursuit of Benten instead.

But the look on Rex’s face wasn’t something Juno had ever expected.  He was looking at Juno with more love than should ever be directed at someone like Juno Steel, like he would kill for him.  Like he would die for him. The force of that gaze was enough to make Juno’s heart stutter, enough to make him feel like he was actually worth something.

“He cares a lot about you,” Rex said quietly.

Juno could feel his face getting hot.  “I’m sorry about that,” he muttered.

“Don’t apologize.”  Rex hooked a finger under Juno’s chin and pulled him so they were meeting eyes.  “You have someone who cares about you, and that’s more than a lot of people can say.”  He tipped his head. “You said I couldn’t be here. Was it because you didn’t want me to meet Benzaiten?”

Juno shook his head, then reconsidered.  “A bit, but that’s not the main reason. Just…you can’t be here.”  He didn’t want Rex to know about Sarah. He had heard Rex talk about his parents, knew that they loved him, and he didn’t want any pity.

“Juno.”  Rex looked concerned.  “Benzaiten said that he would keep an eye on your mother for you.  Is  _ that _ why you don’t want me here? ”

Juno didn’t answer, but that was apparently enough answer for Rex.

“Oh,  _ Juno _ .”

“I don’t want to hear about it,” Juno snapped.

“Can I do anything?”

“I said  _ don’t _ !”  Juno could feel himself shutting himself off, posture drawing closed, an automatic defense mechanism.

Rex held out his hands, appealing.  “I’m sorry, Juno. I didn’t mean to push.”

Juno sighed.  “I think it’s best if you go, for now.”

Rex took a step back, face falling.  “Do you want me gone for good, or can I convince you to join me for dinner later this week?”

“I…yeah, dinner sounds nice.”

***

When Juno got back into the bedroom Benten was waiting for him, sitting cross-legged on the bed.

“Damn, he is hot.”

“Ben!”

Benten held up his hands in an appeal of innocence.  “He’s all yours. Not really my type, honest. Hot, yeah, but not my type.”

Juno narrowed his eyes.  It wasn’t exactly Benten’s fault that he was more likable and had sort of kept stealing Juno’s potential friends and partners throughout their school years.  Rex was the first person who had ever seemed to ignore Benten in favor of Juno, so Juno was going to cling to that with everything he had.

**But Mama you don’t understand**

**What I want is a ganef man**

Juno had half an hour until he had to be at work and he couldn’t find his keys.  His car was a piece of shit, but at least it got him where he needed to be—it didn’t work, though, unless he  _ could find his keys _ .

“Benten!  Have you seen my keys?”

Benten poked his head around the corner, eyes huge.  He shook his head aggressively, finger over his mouth in a shushing gesture.

It was too late, though, as an arm draped over Juno’s shoulders.  Sarah.

“We needed the money, little monster,” she murmured, and Juno’s heart stopped.

“Did you  _ sell my car _ ?” he demanded.

“We needed the money,” Sarah said again.

Juno didn’t have time to try and parse through that nor time to get angry about it.  Without a car, he was going to be late, no two ways around it.

Juno stepped away, towards the door, and Sarah grabbed his wrist. 

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Work!” Juno replied. 

Sarah narrowed her eyes but let Juno go.

As soon as he was out the door Juno was sprinting.  He was going to be late no matter what, but at the very least he could minimize how late he was.

Once he reached the nicer part of town Juno slowed down to a brisk walk.  He already stuck out here—the nicest clothes he could afford for work were still relatively cheap and looked it.

Juno was nearly forty-five minutes late by the time he finally got to work, trying to look more put together than he was.

His boss, Mr. Morrow, glared at him as he entered.  “You’re late, Steel.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Juno panted.  “Uh…car troubles.” That was certainly one word for it.

“Mr. Glass is here for a final fitting,” he said, gesturing as Rex stood.  “He insisted on waiting for you. You’ve wasted his valuable time.”

“I’m  _ sorry _ ,” Juno apologized again.  “It was outside my control.”

“It’s no matter, Juno.”  Rex smiled at Juno, a smile that had his heart pounding and his knees weak (although, to be fair, that could have just been from his run to work).

“Now that Juno is here, would you  _ please _ prepare for your fitting, Mr. Glass?” Mr. Morrow’s irritation with Juno bled over into his voice as he addressed Rex, although he rectified that as soon as he realized he was being rude to a customer.

As soon as Rex vanished into the fitting room, Mr. Morrow turned back to Juno.  “You can’t be doing this, Steel. Coming in this late is unacceptable.”

“It wasn’t my fault.  I didn’t have a functional car, which I wasn’t expecting.  If I’d had it I would have been on time, just like every other day since I’ve started working here.”

Any other reply was cut off by Rex returning from the dressing room, dressed in his diamond-encrusted suit.  Juno was speechless, really, and Rex winked at him as he stood in the center of the room, waiting.

The fitting itself was quick.  The suit was about perfect already, only needing minor alterations.

As Rex left, however, he stopped to talk to Juno.  “You promised you’d go to dinner with me. Would tomorrow night work?”

“Tomorrow night would be wonderful,” Juno said, and then floated through the rest of the day.

**He gets me jewels from Christie's**

**He slips them in a bag**

**And the bag he took from Prada**

**Though he doesn’t like to brag**

Benten looked through the closet with a judgmental eye.  Juno wasn’t sure why he looked like that, given that they shared a wardrobe—meaning Benten saw this stuff every day—but he wasn’t about to question it.  They both knew that Benten had a far better fashion sense, cultivated over years backstage and in dressing rooms.

The dress Benten pulled out was sleek and form-fitting, one he wore for ballroom, Juno thought.  It was rich purple, the same color as the streaks Benten put in his hair.

“Try this.”

Juno wasn’t sure, but he obediently pulled it on.  The material was silky smooth against his skin and he automatically ran his hands over it, feeling the soft glide with a reverent expression.

Benten wolf-whistled and Juno flipped him off.  Benten just laughed—he was used to Juno acting like this.

The next thing Benten handed over was a pair of thigh-high stockings even silkier than the dress and tissue-thin, more delicate than about anything Juno had ever worn in his life.  Getting them on was nerve-wracking, but Juno had to admit that his legs looked amazing and that the lace visible through the high slit of the dress was certainly something.

Benten tossed a pair of shoes at Juno, who just barely caught him—black stilettos that added several extra inches to Juno’s height.  It was a good thing, Juno thought, that Benten had forced him to learn how to walk in heels this high when they were younger.

“Sit, Super Steel!” Benten ordered, pulling out the chair to the vanity table.  Juno sat and Benten immediately started messing with his hair, putting product in and pulling at the curls.

Makeup was next, and before long Benten spun Juno around to face his reflection in the mirror.

“I…wow,” was all Juno managed to say as he took his reflection in.  “Ben…it looks amazing.”

Juno’s usually unmanageable hair was somehow as sleek and soft as Benten’s, curls shining as they reflected the light.  One side was clipped back with a gold barrette the same color as the winged eyeliner that made Juno’s eyes look huge. His cheek- and collarbones glistened with some sort of glitter, and the lipstick Benten had chosen was the same color as the dress he’d given Juno to wear.

Benten grinned widely.  “I’m good, aren’t I?”

Juno smacked his twin’s shoulder.  Benten was right, but Juno wasn’t about to feed his ego.  “Remember, if Mom asks I’m at a work event.”

“I’ve got your back,” Benten promised.  “Go meet your boy.”

***

Rex had chosen the restaurant, just giving Juno an address and a time and orders to dress  _ nicely _ .  And it turned out that the place he had chosen was one of the most upscale places in Hyperion City.

Juno’s nerves were afire as he entered the restaurant, but then there was Rex waiting for him.  He wore a form-fitting dark red suit, impossibly narrow waist bound by a black corset over his shimmering white shirt.  Diamonds glittered in his ears and rubies on his fingers, and his lipstick matched his suit. He looked…

“Holy shit,” Juno murmured.

Rex looked just as shocked as Juno felt.  “You look ravishing, darling,” he said, slipping his hand to the small of Juno’s back.  “Shall we?”

Juno wasn’t sure if the roses on the table were from the restaurant or from Rex, but he wasn’t about to ask.  He already felt so out of place here, just a pretender from Oldtown. 

Rex didn’t seem to care about whether or not Juno was allowed to be somewhere as nice as this, pulling out his chair and pressing a gentle kiss to Juno’s knuckles before going around the table to his own seat.

He looked at Juno over his menu, eyes glittering behind his wire-framed glasses.  Juno focused on that rather than his own menu. Rex made him nervous, of course, although he wasn’t entirely sure if that was as much Rex himself as it was everything he signified.  He could deal with those nerves, though. Harder to deal with was the feeling of being such an outsider in a place this nice. Juno Steel was just a disaster lady from Oldtown, not anyone who belonged anywhere near this place, bar maybe as a kitchen worker—certainly not as a patron.

A waiter came to their table carrying a bottle of wine.  Juno wasn’t really a wine person, but alcohol was alcohol and he would take what he could get.  Anything to get the butterflies in his stomach to stop their relentless fluttering.

“Juno, dear, do you know what you would like to eat?”  Rex was looking at Juno expectantly, so Juno quickly turned his attention to the menu. He had intended to choose the least expensive thing he could find, but the menu didn’t list prices.  Panicking, Juno looked up at Rex, who took pity on him.

“Would you like me to choose for you?”

“Please.”

Rex looked over the menu with a critical eye.  “Do you like steak?”

Juno wasn’t about to admit that he had never had steak.  He didn’t think Rex would judge him, but the waiter would, so he just nodded.

Rex seemed to understand what Juno was thinking, so he turned to the waiter without asking Juno any further questions.  “The lady will have the steak, medium rare, and the same for myself.”

The waiter nodded, collected their menus, and headed off again.  Rex propped his chin in his hand, gazing at Juno.

Juno squirmed under the intensity of his gaze.  No one ever looked at Juno like that. It wasn’t the sort of look Juno Steel deserved.

“How did you end up working for the tailor, Juno?” Rex asked.

“Why?”  Juno’s voice came out defensive, and Rex raised his free hand in a calming gesture.

“I’m just making conversation,” he soothed. 

Juno sighed.  “I wanted to go into the HCPD, but that, uh, didn’t work out.  I always helped Benten sew his dance outfits, so I had experience.  Enough for Mr. Morrow to take me on.” He shrugged. “It’s not my dream job, but I like it well enough.”

Rex nodded.  “I’ve never had a job, per se.  I’ve been trained to take over the family business, of course, but that’s hardly a job, not what I’ll be doing.  I’ll just sit in an office somewhere and sign papers.”

“Lucky.”

Rex shrugged, an elegant motion that Juno wished he could mimic.  “Perhaps. But also I’m meant to be no more than a pretty face, a figurehead.”

“You’re definitely a pretty face,” Juno muttered under his breath, then feigned innocence when Rex looked at him.

The waiter returned with their food before either of them could say any more.  Juno poked at his steak before cutting into it. 

“Mmm,” was all he managed, a mumble around the bite in his mouth.

Rex laughed.  “Enjoying it, darling?”

Juno would have flipped Rex off, had they not been in such a nice setting.  As it was, he just rolled his eyes and continued eating.

The steak really was quite good.  This was something Juno could get used to, the richness of the meat.  And the company wasn’t half bad either. Rex made small talk throughout the meal, little things about himself and poking at things about Juno.  Setting up the basis for a relationship.

The waiter returned with a dessert menu.  These were things Juno knew—he himself could take or leave sweets, but Benten had a hell of a sweet tooth and shared everything with his twin.

“The blueberry cheesecake, please,” Juno said.

“And the tiramisu for me.”  Rex collected the menus and returned them to the waiter with a polite smile.

The dessert was every bit as good as the meal had been, and they were finished quickly.  Rex handed over a card without even looking at the bill and Juno shoved a bit of envy out of his mind.  Someday he would love to be that carefree with money.

After retrieving his card, Rex led Juno out of the restaurant.  “Thank you for a wonderful date, darling.” 

Juno tried to infuse his voice with light teasing instead of disappointment.  “Come on, Rex. Is that all?”

**He’ll steal the streets of Paris**

**He’ll steal a lady’s rocks**

**He’ll steal the moon and melt it down and put it in a box**

Honestly, they were probably dressed far too nicely to be pressed up against a wall in an alley, even one in this part of town, but it wasn’t like Juno was complaining.  Rex kissed like his life was on the line, like his world started and ended with Juno’s mouth. It was enough to make a lady weak, and Juno spared a quick thought of gratitude for the fact that he was pressed firmly between the wall and Rex’s long body, because without that he might not have remained upright.

“Holy hell,” Juno gasped against Rex’s lips.  “Holy hell, you’re an amazing kisser.”

Rex laughed softly.  “There’s always more, Juno.”

“I don’t know if I’ll survive more,” Juno admitted softly, voice both breathy and breathless.

Rex pressed up against Juno, scraping his teeth against the shell of Juno’s ear as he murmured.  “Do you want to come back to mine?”

Juno hesitated.  The answer was, of course, yes, but he also couldn’t risk getting himself and Benten in trouble.

“You don’t have to, Juno.”  Juno dug his fingers into the wall to try and compensate for Rex’s sudden absence as he stepped away.

His fingers twitched against the wall, wanting more than anything to reach out and pull Rex back in. 

“No, no, I want to.  I really do. It’s just…I can’t be out all night.”

“I don’t  _ have _ to take all night.”  Rex looked mournful, like there was nothing he wanted more than to spend hours taking Juno apart slowly and thoroughly, and god, Juno wanted that, too.  He just  _ couldn’t _ .

But, also, he just couldn’t turn Rex down altogether.

“Let’s go to your place.”

***

It was nearly midnight when Juno crept back into the house, praying to whatever gods he didn’t believe in that he wouldn’t run into Sarah.  There was no way to explain his current state as work-related, never mind his (mostly failed) attempt to make himself presentable again.

Whatever deities there were must have heard Juno’s half-assed prayers, since Juno made it back to the room he shared with Benten without encountering a single living soul.

Benten was asleep on the bed but sat up groggily when Juno entered and hit the light.

“How was it—holy shit, Super Steel.”  Benten was suddenly wide awake, eyes huge as he took in his twin’s appearance.

Juno ducked his head in an uncharacteristic burst of shyness, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.  He really had tried to look like he hadn’t been up to anything questionable, but there was only so much he could do.

“You have lipstick on your neck,” Benten said, lips tugging upwards.  “Nice color.”

Juno’s hand immediately went to his neck, probing lightly around where Rex had dug his sharp teeth in.  The pain was slight but present and he hissed lightly, relishing in the feeling.

“You’ve got a mark,” Benten said, hooking his chin on Juno’s shoulder.  He poked at it with two fingers and Juno swatted his hand away.

“So your date went well.”

Benten fell back onto the bed, watching as Juno stripped out of the dress and hung it up before pulling on his sweatpants and a t-shirt.  He didn’t bother to wash his face before turning the light back off and collapsing beside Benten.

“Yeah, it went well.”

“I can tell.”  Juno could hear the smirk in his brother’s voice.  “You smell like cologne or something, never mind the mark.  Which I can help you cover before Mom sees.”

Juno sighed.  “Please.”

***

Sneaking around was stressful, always would be, but Rex was worth it.  He loved treating Juno, and Juno was getting better at letting himself be treated as the months went on.

“You know, Juno,” Rex said through a yawn as they curled around each other in bed, exhausted post-coital, “I think I might have fallen in love with you.”

Juno laughed softly.  “That makes two of us.”

***

A large part of Juno still believed that nothing good would ever last, but as time went on he started to relax more and more.  Rex showed no signs of abandoning him and Benten was able to keep Sarah off Juno’s back. Things were good.

**But Mama, Mama who could miss the crime**

**Cause I’ve always been a ganef too**

**And now you know it’s time**

When Juno walked through the door his heart dropped.  Sarah’s hands were steady, the blaster pointed firmly at Benten’s head.

“I know what you’ve been doing,” she snapped.  “Sneaking around, thinking I wouldn’t find out.  Always thinking you’re better, smarter, sneakier than the rest of us.  Thinking you could just  _ leave _ , walk out on your family.  How dare you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Juno demanded, clenching his hands into fists to stop their shaking.

Sarah spun, blaster barely dropping with the movement.  “You know,” she said, voice smooth and dripping with every bit of manipulation and malice she could fit into it.  “I thought he was you.

Juno’s stomach flipped, though he wasn’t sure if the feeling was positive or negative.  On one hand, Benten was safe. On the other hand, Juno had something worth living for,  _ finally _ , and he didn’t want to die before he really got to live. 

But there was nothing he could do.  If he moved Sarah would shoot him, and he wouldn’t put it past her to shoot Benten in retribution after he himself was down if he tried to take the blaster or take her down.  He was stuck.

When he thought about it, though, there was one thing he could do.  “Ben, get out!”

As soon as Benten started to move Juno lunged for Sarah, who pulled the trigger.  The bolt struck Juno in the thigh and he shouted in pain and went down, although he managed to bring Sarah down with him as he collapsed.

Benten froze by the door, eyes huge as he stared worriedly at Juno.

“Get out!” Juno screamed, voice cracking as he tried to get the blaster away from Sarah.  “Ben,  _ go _ !”  He could sacrifice himself, even if he didn’t want to.  He couldn’t let Benten die.

Benten took a hesitant step closer to the door, then turned and ran.  Juno watched him go, sparing a quick thought of thanks for Benten’s safety, then turned his attention back to Sarah.  Her face was contorted with rage and determination as she twisted.

“Get off me, little monster,” she hissed, and then the blaster fired again, hitting Juno in the shoulder.

The pain was excruciating, but Juno knew he couldn’t give in to it.  This was Oldtown; no one was going to come running at the sound of gunshots and screaming.  It was a normal enough occurrence, which meant Juno was entirely on his own. No one was coming to save him.

He struck at Sarah over and over, unsure who the blood on his knuckles belonged to.  She fought back, striking Juno in the side of the head with the blaster. The pain was intense, the blood obstructing his vision as he grappled with Sarah.

Another blaster shot just missed the side of Juno’s head, and then a fourth struck his side and a fifth and sixth into his lower legs, bringing him down to the ground without the ability to regain his feet.

Juno knew he was as good as dead.  There was no hope for him anymore. The only thing he was clinging to was that Benten was gone, hopefully safe, and wasn’t going to have to watch his twin die. 

Juno closed his eyes, hearing Sarah’s footsteps draw nearer, and waited for the killing shot.

It never came.

Instead, there was a strangled noise and Juno opened his eyes in time to see Sarah fall back, a knife embedded in her throat.  She gasped wetly, choking on the blood streaming around her throat, and then she was still.

Juno collapsed to one side, curling into himself in pain.  That pain was so all-consuming that it didn’t even cross his mind to wonder where the knife had come from.

A gentle hand on the side of his face pulled Juno away from the pain, just a tiny bit.  “Hey, Super Steel.” 

“Ben,” Juno croaked.  “Are you okay?”

“Don’t worry about me,” Benten replied, voice and face expressing worry.  “You’re badly hurt.”

“ _ Are you okay _ ?”  Juno struggled to sit up, grabbing at Benten’s arms.

“Hey, hey, relax.  I’m fine, I promise.  You got me out before anything happened to me.”

“What do you want to do with the body?”  Rex’s voice was different, although Juno couldn’t put a finger on what had actually changed.

“Wha’s he doin’ here?” Juno asked, voice slurring with the pain.

“He’s the one that saved you,” Benten said softly, stroking Juno’s hair.  “I ran into him down the road and he knew what to do. Juno, we need to get you to the hospital.”

“Don’t leave me,” Juno begged, clinging to Benten with all the strength he had left.  “I couldn’t take it if you left.” He didn’t mean now, or temporarily, but luckily Benten seemed to understand.

“I’m not going anywhere.  I promise.”

Juno blinked up at Benten, who was swimming in and out of his field of vision.  “You’re the best, Ben. My angel.”

Benten looked concerned.  “Angel? Juno, are you okay?”

“’M great.  You’re great.  You’re glowing.  So pretty.”

“We need to get him to the hospital  _ now _ ,” Rex snapped, and Juno looked over at him.

“Rex.  Rex. Rexy.  You’re so pretty too.”  Juno grinned. “The prettiest.  And you’re the best kisser. The best in bed.”

Benten groaned, hooking an arm under Juno’s legs and the other under his arms.  “You’re babbling, Super Steel,” he said as he stood, hoisting Juno up.

“He’s in danger,” Rex said, voice still harsh.  “Benzaiten, if we don’t get him in he could  _ die _ .”

Benten might have replied, but Juno wasn’t really listening.  Instead he was cuddling into his brother’s chest, taking in the warmth and comfort and listened to his heartbeat, closing his eyes and letting Benten’s closeness comfort him.

He was so cold, but Benten was warm, and Juno curled into that, closing his eyes.

“Juno, stay with me,” Rex said, patting Juno’s cheek.  “I need you to open your eyes.”

“So tired,” Juno mumbled, barely cracking his eyes open.  “Lemme sleep.”

“Juno.  You can’t sleep.”

Rex’s voice was harsh, but Juno ignored him, closing his eyes and letting the cold black engulf him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Your little girl will steal the world**

Juno blinked slowly, groaning.  The pain was just a distant buzz, something he could sense in the back of his mind but couldn’t actually grasp.  To be fair, though, he couldn’t grasp much of anything—whenever he tried to focus things slipped away, just beyond his searching fingertips.  He remembered vaguely what had happened, but the specifics escaped him.

“Good morning, Juno.”  Rex looked perfectly put together, even as he slumped slightly to one side, leaning on the arm of the chair beside the bed.

“Benten?” Juno croaked, and Rex waved a hand at the couch across the room.  Benten was curled around a pillow, snoring softly.

“He’s been keeping vigil over you.  I had to force him to sleep.”

Juno smiled softly, fingers twitching as he had to keep himself from reaching out to his brother. Instead, he turned his focus back to Rex. 

“I’m sorry they couldn’t save your eye, Juno,” Rex said softly.  “The doctors did their best, but the eyeball was cut in the fight beyond repair.”

Juno reached up to his face, feeling the soft fabric over where his eye had been.  He hadn’t realized the damage had been that severe, but, to be fair, he had been a little distracted.

Juno really didn’t want to think about his eye anymore, so he changed the subject.  “You saved me.”

“Of course I did, Juno.”

Juno shook his head.  “You killed her. You…threw a knife?  How do you know to do that?” The words didn’t quite come out right, he thought, but everything was still fuzzy from the medication, so he wasn’t sure.

Rex’s mask slipped, just for a moment before it returned.  “Something I picked up as a child,” he said quickly. “Nothing important.”

“Like hell it’s not!” Juno snapped as best he could, given that everything was still fuzzy.  “Rex…” He ran out of words, settling for given Rex his best puppy dog eyes. Benten was better at the look, but Juno still did his best.

Rex sighed, then glanced over at Benten, who was still soundly asleep.  He crossed the room and shut the door.

“You deserve the best in the galaxy, Juno.  You deserve the truth. So. My name…” Rex stopped, sighed, then started again.  “My name is Peter Nureyev.”

“What.”

“My name is Peter Nureyev.”  He sounded more confident the second time.  “I invented Rex Glass for a cover. I needed an excuse to be on Mars if anyone asked; what better than a flamboyant Outer Rim heir on a tour of the solar system?”

“What was the real reason?”  The painkillers kept Juno’s voice level, even dead.

Rex— _ Peter­ _ —bit his lip, those sharp teeth digging in and drawing Juno’s attention from the matter at hand.

He forced himself to focus, to wait for Peter’s explanation.

“There were certain, shall we say, items of interest to me here.”

“Items of interest.”

Peter sighed.  “I, ah,  _ trade _ in items that people want, that other people have.  I can get anything for and  _ from _ anyone.  I needed a plausible way to get, for example, thousands of tiny diamonds off the planet without anyone questioning me.”

Juno had a sudden flashback to sewing  _ thousands of tiny diamonds _ onto a suit perfectly designed for Rex Glass.

“So you lied to me.”  Juno’s anger overrode the fuzziness of the painkillers, explosive and sudden.

Peter looked taken aback.  “Juno, I never lied to you about anything important.”

“That  _ doesn’t matter _ ,” Juno snapped.  “You still lied to me.  You let me fall in love with this person that you invented and couldn’t have the decency to tell me the truth.  Was anything you told me true, or was I just a pawn that you  _ used _ for your fucking heist?”

“I wasn’t supposed to get attached!” Peter shouted back.  “That wasn’t a part of the heist. Flirting, of course, but not  _ this _ .  This isn’t Rex.”

“You’ve lied about so much already—how do I know this isn’t just another lie?”

“Juno, I swear on anything you want that it’s not a lie.”  Peter looked frantic, eyes wild as he begged Juno to believe him.  But Juno was tired of lies, tired of being used and tossed aside and goddamn people who thought that they could do whatever they wanted to Juno Steel.

“Get out.”  Juno pushed himself up to a seated position, glaring at Peter with everything he had.  “ _ Get out _ .  Stay away from me, stay away from Benten, hell, stay away from Hyperion City. Go back to whatever you were doing before you decided you could just waltz into my life and turn everything upside down.  Don’t come back.”

“Juno…”  Peter’s voice was soft, almost broken.  “Please, Juno, don’t do this.”

“Out.”

With one last heartbroken look at Juno, Peter left, closing the door behind him.

As soon as Peter was gone Juno’s stupid brain betrayed him and he burst into choking sobs.  It took him far too long to get himself back under control, which was more irritating than Juno was honestly able to articulate.

Once Juno was alone and calm, he switched positions with Benten—the latter asleep, Juno watching over him.  Benten, always a heavy sleeper, had barely moved during the argument between Juno and Peter. Juno could tell he was exhausted just from the sound of his breathing.  Usually, Benten snuffled between breaths, just a bit as he moved with his dreams, not this steady rise and fall with no hitches. Juno could hardly fault him—it had been an exhausting time, and Juno wasn’t sure how long Benten had been awake keeping an eye on him.

It was another few hours until Benten woke, stretching out and cracking his stiff limbs.  Juno smiled softly.

“Hey, Ben.”

Benten jumped, snapping his head around to meet Juno’s eyes—eye.  “You’re up.”

“Yeah.”  Juno paused for a moment.  “Thank you. For saving me, and for staying.”

“Rex was really the one who saved you.”  Benten looked around. “Where is Rex?”

“He had to leave.”  Juno could feel the cold edge in his voice as he replied, and apparently Benten could feel it too, as he didn’t push any further on the Rex issue.

“I’m glad you’re safe,” was all he said, crossing the room to crawl into bed beside Juno and curling up, twining his fingers with Juno’s and resting his head on his chest.

***

After a few days that Juno was convinced were completely unnecessary, he was finally released from the hospital.  Benten took him home, where they ended up standing on the sidewalk in front of their house, neither willing to go in.

“Do you think Mom’s still there?” Benten asked softly.  “I mean, we certainly didn’t do anything with the body.”

“I…don't know,” Juno admitted.  “Only one way to find out, right?”

He headed up the stairs to the front door, taking a deep breath before opening it.

There was no sign that anything had happened in the house.  No body, no blood. The only things out of place were the burn from the laser that had just missed Juno’s head and a note pinned to the wall.

Juno stared at the laser burn, breath hitching in the beginnings of a panic attack, as Benten went to see what the note was.

“ _ Cleaning up was the least I could do.  Thank you for letting me share what little bit of your life I could.  I hope the rest of it is wonderful. PN. _ ”

None of that helped Juno calm down in the slightest and he fell to his knees and bent over himself entirely, arms wrapped around himself.  His heart was pounding, chest tight. Benten might have been saying something, but Juno couldn’t hear anything over the rushing of blood in his ears.

Arms wrapped around Juno, pulling him up and into Benten’s body.  Benten stroked Juno’s hair, murmuring incomprehensibly, just a soft rumble that Juno felt more than he heard.  He clung to Benten with a bone-deep desperation, unwilling to let go of one of the few things he had left.

***

Work was hell.  Juno’s depth perception was thrown to shit, which he hadn’t thought would be an issue, but, as it turned out, it actually was.  Between that and the sheer amount of time he had missed with the time in the hospital, Mr. Morrow let Juno go, with a remark about how it was a pity he was losing one of his best workers.  No pity was spared for Juno, only for the workflow of the shop itself.

The remaining rational corner of Juno’s mind understood that despite the tone and words used it really wasn’t personal, merely business, but the rational corner of Juno’s mind was barely there anymore.  It was all but entirely taken over by the creeping darkness.

***

Benten was absolutely glowing when he got home from his audition. 

“They’re taking me, Super Steel!”

Juno managed a smile.  Benten had wanted to join the particular dance company for ages now and they’d wanted to take him for just as long, but Sarah hadn’t allowed it.  She only permitted her children to have what she considered “practical” jobs. Benten, forever her favorite, had been allowed to still dance but he couldn’t pursue it as a career.  Juno had been absolutely forbidden from entering the HCPD, to his eternal chagrin.

Benten crawled onto Juno’s lap and wrapped his arms around his twin, hiding his face in Juno’s shoulder as he giggled giddily. 

“I can’t believe this worked out!”

“I’m so happy for you,” Juno replied, and he was.  He just also…didn’t want to let Benten go. It wasn’t like Benten was  _ leaving _ , but everything was  _ changing. _  Juno didn’t like change.  Change eventually meant that Juno was left behind—it happened every time.

***

The door opening made Juno jump.  He wasn’t sure how long he had been curled into a ball on the couch, but the sun had gone down at some point, and his stiff joints suggested it had been a good while.  Also, his bottle of whiskey was dry, and he was pretty sure it had been full that morning. Although, given how his mind was working, maybe it hadn’t been that morning.  Time was slippery.

The group that came in was chattering loudly and animatedly, all beautiful and dressed more fashionably than Juno could imagine.  Benten was in the center, grinning widely and looking more alive than Juno could remember seeing him.

Juno had apparently left the small lamp on the side table on, but Benten flipped the switch to the overhead light.  The sudden brightness made Juno groan, and the group turned to stare at him.

“Everyone, this is my twin.  Juno.” Benten waved at Juno and Juno was suddenly incredibly aware of his current sad state of being.  He was pretty sure that he had been wearing the same t-shirt and sweatpants for days now, he hadn’t showered in at least a week, his hair was an awful bird’s nest of knotted curls, he wasn’t wearing his eyepatch.  The contrast between him and Benten’s group was startling, and he could hear whispers that had to be insulting. And, worse, Benten laughed and whispered back. It was clear to Juno what side he was on.

Juno pushed himself to his feet and stumbled out of the apartment and into the chilly air of the city, not even bothering to grab shoes on his way out the door.

He didn’t have a set route, didn’t have a place he was going to.  The only thing in his head was getting  _ away _ . 

Really, Juno should have realized that he was being followed, but realizing much of anything was really beyond his current mental capacity.  Had been beyond his capacity for weeks, ever since he’d gotten home from the hospital, and his apparent dissociative episode that day had really thrown him.

Maybe if he’d been in a right mental state he would have noticed the men—boys, really—behind him before they jumped him.  There was no use in maybes, though.

Juno didn’t bother fighting back, not caring what happened to him.  Once upon a time, he would have cared, but now he didn’t. Benten didn’t need him anymore, which meant he no longer had anything worth living for.  Benten had friends who were better than him.

He had a vague idea that they were going to kill him, but that wasn’t enough to make Juno struggle.  A lonesome death in a back alley in Oldtown was all he deserved, anyway. He closed his eyes, accepting his death for the second time in a month.

Once again, that death never came.

Once again, Juno didn’t bother wondering what had happened.

Once again, a hand on his face was what brought Juno back to reality.

“You really have to stop doing this, Juno, darling.”  The voice was soft, familiar, and Juno’s eyes flew open and his head snapped up.

Peter Nureyev knelt in front of Juno, eyes tender and hands careful as he wiped blood from Juno’s face with a cloth he had pulled from one of his pockets.

“What are you doing here?” Juno croaked.  “I thought I told you to stay away.”

Peter sighed.  “I wasn’t going to return.  But there’s this mask out in Croesus Kanagawa’s mansion, and my employer wants it.  Well, wants a lot of things, and a lot of them are here in Hyperion City. She hired me to acquire them for her, and it’s not like I could decline the job just because I’ve been told to stay away.  It’s a big city; I wasn’t planning on ever crossing paths with you.”

“And yet you ended up in Oldtown.”  Juno crossed his arms, a look that would probably have been more effective had he not been sitting on the ground in his own blood.  “No one just  _ happens _ to end up in Oldtown.  We’re far enough on the edge of the dome that it’s not like you’re just cutting through.”

“She has a lab here.  Because it’s Oldtown and no one is going to be investigating odd noises and odder deliveries.  You all just turn a blind eye.”

“Except for you,” Juno pointed out.

Peter shrugged.  “I would hardly be good at my job if I turned a blind eye.  And you, darling, would be dead.”

“What a pity,” Juno muttered.

The look Peter gave Juno was sharp, but Juno chose to ignore it. 

“I have to get home.  Benten will be wondering what happened to me.”  That was a lie. Benten was occupied with his dancer friends and probably didn’t even notice Juno’s absence.

Peter stepped back, offering Juno a helping hand that Juno ignored as he pushed himself to his feet.  “If you ever need me, Juno, ask for Duke Rose.”

Juno didn’t recognize the name.  “Another lie.”

“Another alias, to keep myself safe.”

Juno didn’t dignify that with a response, merely limping his way out of the alley and on home.

When he opened the door he was immediately greeted by Benten’s frantic face.  “You’ve been gone for hours! Everyone’s been looking for you.” He pulled Juno into the living room, where his fashionable friends were gathered.  “We were just about to call the police, and—holy hell, Juno, what happened to you?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Juno mumbled, pulling away from Benten’s steadying hand.  “’M fine. Go back to partying with your friends or whatever. They’re more important.”

Benten grabbed Juno’s arm again and dragged him into the kitchen.  “Fuck, Juno, you’re the most important thing in my life. Never think you’re not.  If I had to choose between them and you—I wouldn’t even have to think about it. It would be you without a moment of hesitation.”

“Don’t know why,” Juno muttered.  “Not like I’m worth it.”

Benten pulled Juno into a crushing hug.  “ _ You are worth it _ .”

***

Now that Juno knew that Peter was back he couldn’t get it out of his head.  He was still angry, of course he was, but he was also still in love with—Rex, Duke, Peter, whoever the fuck he was.  He had lied, but also there had been enough there to build months of a relationship.

It was enough to make Juno’s head spin, although that may have just been the whiskey.

_ Duke Rose. _

Juno wasn’t a lady with much dignity anymore.  The question was, did he have too much to seek out Peter?  Sure, the man had lied, had made himself out to be someone he wasn’t, but, also…he had made Juno feel wanted, feel loved, feel beautiful.  He had taken the broken self of Juno Steel and sealed the cracks with love like that which Juno had never known. Everyone else who loved him had done so because they had to—Sarah’s temperamental highs and lows of maternal affection, Benten’s bond as a twin, Sasha and Mick’s previous inability to get rid of Juno.  But Peter had nothing to tie himself to Juno short of that he had contrived in and of himself, with the ability to sever those bonds as he chose. And he hadn’t chosen to do so—that had been all Juno. The love was evident in Peter’s eyes and voice, even now, and it was enough to make Juno weak. Weak enough to return.

With that decision made, Juno returned to his whiskey.  He stared at the glass in his hand, then picked up the bottle and drained it.  He was going to need as much liquid courage as he could get to do this.

***

Tracking down Duke Rose was surprisingly easy, as it turned out.  He was making waves in certain Hyperion circles, circles that Juno had dipped his toes in in the past, not that he would ever admit it.

Peter’s face lit up when he saw Juno, automatically reaching out to him.  Juno let himself be drawn back into Peter Nureyev’s orbit, drawn into a fiery kiss that burned off all his doubts and fears.

Peter took his time and kissed every bit of Juno he could reach, seemingly unwilling to take his hands off Juno, who had to admit he returned the sentiment.  They slotted together so perfectly that it felt like coming home, like a drink of water and radiation burn treatment after time in the desert.

“Run away with me,” Peter mumbled against Juno’s lips, and Juno froze before pulling away slowly.

Peter frowned, taking one of Juno’s hands and holding it against his heart.

“I’m not asking you to leave if you don’t want to.  I’m just saying that the option is there if you want it.”

Juno bit his lip.  He didn’t want to leave, but if he said no he wasn’t sure if Peter would ever come back.

“If I don’t leave, is that it?”  Juno’s voice was smaller than he had wanted it to be, but there was nothing to be done about that.  “For us?”

Peter pulled Juno into a bruising kiss.  “I’ll come back,” he promised, the words barely more than a breath against Juno’s lips.  “I could never stay away.”

**And if he ever tries**

**To take from me**

**I’ll steal his teeth**

**His lips**

**His heart**

**His eyes**

Juno whooped gleefully, tossing his head as the wind struck his face.  Peter had a thing for fast and beautiful cars—the one they were in was a convertible, as sleek and elegant as its current driver.  Juno was pretty sure that Peter had stolen it, but he wasn’t about to ask. He didn’t really care, if he was being honest. He was here with Peter, happy and in love.  He could overlook the shadier sides of the situation.

Earth was certainly different than Mars, and as enchanting as it was being able to see the sky without looking through a dome and experiencing real weather, Juno couldn’t wait to return home.  He hadn’t realized just how attached he was to his shitty home until he had the chance to leave, and he was so glad that Peter was willing to return over and over to Hyperion City, return to Juno.

And the planet-hopping vacations weren’t half bad either.  Juno had never left Mars, so it was thrilling getting to see other places.  Venusian spas, storm chasing on Jupiter, the finest museums of the Outer Rim, seashores on Earth.  Peter was by Juno’s side for all of it, filling the Hyperion City-shaped hole that made its home in Juno’s chest when he was away (Hyperion City never filled the hole left by Peter’s absence, though).

Juno never took much with him when they left but he always filled the empty spaces in his suitcase with souvenirs—silky scarves and glittering jewelry for Benten, colorful knickknacks for his coworker, exotic weaponry for his boss.  And there always was, of course, the things that Peter bought for Juno. Ever since Peter had learned that Juno collected bad art that had been what he got for him, whether that be on trips they took together or packages sent to Juno from every corner of the galaxy.

Peter pulled into the parking lot of a nice hotel and barely had the chance to turn the car off before Juno was climbing over the console to settle in Peter’s lap.  The steering wheel was digging uncomfortably into his back, but Juno really didn’t care—Peter was beyond hot like this, driving this expensive and powerful car, deadly edges flashing in the dim light.

Peter barely had time to get more than Juno’s name out in a questioning tone before Juno pulled him in and pressed their mouths firmly together, uncaring of who could see them like this.

They made out for a few minutes until Peter pulled back, staring at Juno as if he held the entire universe.  “We have a nice room—a nice  _ bed _ —inside, darling.”

Juno laughed breathlessly.  “That sounds nice.”

***

Later that night, after Peter was asleep, Juno snuck down to the lobby to check in on work.  The face of Rita, his overly cheery coworker, filled the screen of his comms as they connected.

“Hi, Mistah Steel!” she exclaimed, waving excitedly at him.  “How’s your trip?”

Juno chuckled.  “It’s certainly interesting, Rita.  How are things on your end?”

Rita pouted.  “I don’t want to talk about things here, though!”

“Rita, I called you to check in on work.”  This was standard, though. Both Juno and Rita worked for a private eye—Juno was an assistant in the field and did evidence analysis and Rita did all the tech work—and they shared a workspace in the office.  Rita was bubbly and talkative, preferring to ramble on about her shows or her life instead of anything actually work-related. It annoyed Juno at times, but he was also secretly fond of it, fond of her. And if he only called her  _ partially _ to check in on work, well, no one had to know.

“ _ Fine _ .”

The long and short of it was that everything was going fine, which Juno had expected.  Alessandra Strong had functioned just fine before Juno had come along; it made sense that she would continue to function while he was gone.  Juno’s main job really was just minimizing the amount of work Alessandra had to do herself. If she didn’t have to do all the scene processing and evidence analysis she had more time for stake- and shootouts.

In another life, Juno thought that maybe he would have been a private eye, too.

When he crept back into the room, Peter rolled over, more asleep than awake.  “Juno?” he murmured.

“I’m right here,” Juno whispered back, crawling into bed and resting his head on Peter’s shoulder.  “I’m not going anywhere.”

 

[ART](http://evynyx-jpg.tumblr.com/post/182650723527/if-you-kiss-a-thief-count-your-teeth-so-i-had)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a minibang, which means that I had the amazing opportunity to work with an artist on this. Evynyx-jpg on tumblr was my partner and her art is amazing. Because I cannot for the life of me get links in the notes to work I linked her art at the very end of the fic. It's where it says ART in all caps. I'm not subtle.
> 
> Finally, a huge thanks to the mods for organizing this event, and a shoutout to all the new friends I made doing this. It's been amazing.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my piece for the Penumbra Podcast 2019 minibang! Hope you all enjoy!


End file.
